Fire sweeps downtown Nassau

NASSAU, Bahamas -- An arsonist is suspected of setting a fire that swept through downtown Nassau, destroying a popular market and charring the national museum, police said Wednesday. \nThe fire began in a bazaar called the Straw Market shortly before 3 p.m. Tuesday, said police Superintendent Marvin Dames. Hundreds of vendors sell straw hats, handbags and souvenirs from wooden stalls at the market. \nWitnesses told police that a man used a flammable liquid, possibly gasoline, to set fire to one of the stalls, assistant police commissioner Reginald Ferguson said Wednesday. \n"They tried to use fire extinguishers to put the fire out, and in the meantime the man ran away," he said. \nDozens of firefighters battled the blaze for hours before subduing it late Tuesday. Firefighters were still putting out remnants of the blaze Wednesday morning. \nThree police officers and a member of the Bahamas Defense Force suffered minor injuries, Ferguson said. No other injuries were reported. \nThe fire forced the evacuation of hundreds of tourists and businesspeople and damaged a number of buildings along Bay Street, Nassau's main artery and harborside tourist attraction. \n"The fire has interrupted the economic livelihood of the ... vendors at the market, and interrupted the ministry of tourism, which is the hub of our economic engine," Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham said. \nAs the flames spread from roof-to-roof, about 300 guests at the British Colonial Hotel were ordered to evacuate their rooms, said Trudy McKenzie, a hotel manager. \nThe fire spread quickly, destroying the Tourism Ministry, an office complex called Beaumont House, and the Colony Place, which housed restaurants and other businesses, Dames said. The buildings are made from wood and concrete. \nFire also damaged the roof and a back portion of the Pompey Museum, the country's national museum and one of its oldest buildings, built in the 1700s. \nEmployees were able to get most of the artifacts and archives out of the museum, which contains native Bahamian and historical pieces. \n"Take the artifacts, leave the computers," shouted Renay Curry, a museum worker. \nThe Straw Market was destroyed, along with most of its merchandise. \n"I have to start all over," said Larry Brown, 40, a wood carver.